It was a problem that concerned all public librarians, since books are not like any other library material. They need the freedom of shelves or they will get moldy and brittle, but they also need to be kept together so that children can easily use them. There were only two ways out: either file them all together, which meant putting popular titles on the top shelf where no one could reach them; or if some were kept down so they wouldn’t get lost amongst the general series of adult books, and thus might last at least one read before disintegrating completely (as many did), then put all the others on what tall too.
The result was that, without exception, no matter how smart a child might have been, he never read more than one book aloud from cover to cover because when he went back to get another book, there was always a very long climb. ahead, probably a task beyond his endurance, and there was simply no point in trying, since there were plenty of good books at hand anyway.
the first time i walked into a new york children’s room in 1934 i immediately saw what had happened; here were half-crippled copies of scott’s ivanhoe with nothing but their calves poking out of their torn covers; here too was an almost complete set of walter de la mare, which is now extinct even from school libraries, while grimm’s fairy tales remained untouched on another shelf, although these six volumes contained enough poetry and beautiful woodcuts to keep any youngster busy for hours at a time. opened one again! no wonder this room has been left virtually deserted for years after years until its sad state finally prompted drastic action. anyone can see why it failed even before looking inside…
You are reading: How to organize children’s books in a library
but fast forward ten years: my second visit took place during the second world war, when we moved our family permanently to new hampshire, outside of keine, where we still live today, though lately no one has witnessed it except possibly mice or voles. since I’ve never been careful to tell anyone exactly where we live so that unwanted guests don’t come asking me about my writing habits… so much gossip happens in small towns! sometimes it takes brains to stay alive…especially in today’s conditions when everyone seems intent on keeping tabs on everyone else with records similar to those kept by the nazi secret police under hitler…
but as soon as peace returns, maybe people will take better stock of real values and count less on trifles? Right now, though, we’re waging a war on too many fronts, one of which is against prejudice, and I don’t mean black or white.
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However, let’s go back to the library: here were all my books in the correct order, including the first editions, and as for those of walter de la mare, I found not only its six volumes, but also a seventh containing several additional poems. Plus a brand new book with color illustrations by Sir John Millais himself! now that was attention to detail; you won’t find anything like it today, even in the most prestigious libraries… but these “old” books originally came from private collections, so they didn’t have to compete with newer publications when bought for storage. and the children, who are always more interested in pictures than anything else within reason (whereas adults often prefer secluded subjects to beautiful ones) enjoyed using this room as much as if we had been living in some century Back when people actually sat down and read out loud instead of rushing around and looking busy because someone told them they should be doing something important right now…or maybe it was just that all our troubles seemed further away? but whatever the case may have been, there was no lack of interest here as almost everything was open and ready at hand while other things could be brought in upon request….
so rich…so much variety…so many treasures! Why blame your teacher if she doesn’t know how to use them? I’ve probably never seen any others except possibly staple bound copies which makes me wonder why anyone bothers to put covers on such poor stuff anyway but what really bothers me is why people haven’t stopped buy that crap a long time ago. It wouldn’t take long or cost much money, but no one seems inclined to make any improvements beyond those made by the publishers themselves, who continue to regularly publish better-designed reprints than ever before, albeit still well below the standards set years ago by the publishers themselves. authors or their own publishers! how can anyone expect reading tastes to improve when publishers continue to cut corners year after year out of ignorance or carelessness, thus flooding markets already brimming with shoddy crap instead of protecting readers from bad examples written without inspiration or carefully prepared in advance? today there is no excuse for carelessness, so why enjoy it?
However, the fact remains that quality control must exist somewhere because otherwise neither the current catalogs nor the current shelves would hold together, though both look good enough on casual inspection. so where is quality assured before publication takes place and how exactly does this happen? Asking questions like these leads right into a field of research that is fascinating in itself but, as always, there is very little information available on the subject.
I know that in my childhood days a special department had been set up within publishers to handle these matters and each print was expected to meet high standards before it was released for sale: however today many companies they have no apartment at all! so what can you expect from them besides a quick return on investment?
apparently not much, as most books are published so quickly these days that any author trying to help their publisher by providing exhaustive research material will soon discover how little interest there is in quality writing these days , as long as the profits continue to flow into the coffers. no matter…. a depressing realization, to be sure, but not entirely unexpected, given current trends: how else can anyone explain why almost all libraries have failed to publish current issues of certain journals, even though new ones keep coming out like clockwork every year? after year without fail or pause?
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not even children’s writings, perhaps because they are still too young, while their elders have already forgotten other things…they have forgotten hopes and dreams, along with the old ideals that once they were considered sacred years ago, when life seemed simpler then… but did they ever tell us truthfully enough where we could find them again if we wanted them back?
the truth lies buried somewhere under layers of dust that cover everything and everyone alike, including me, the author who wrote this book you have here, and now you must leave it open on your desk with others you will not need see you later… but wait!
something is missing; where exactly did he go? that part called quality control seems to have completely disappeared from view at the moment although, believe me, it does not always remain hidden from the public eye, whatever its importance! I’m sure I’m biased because I’ve had some pretty tough times trying to do two different types of work at the same time; however, both jobs require equal attention, otherwise the latter falls apart completely.
One problem comes from editors who rarely bother to check the facts unless they come across something really funny or unusual, while authors themselves prefer to live within their own imaginations, both equally dangerous: errors are they slip undetected into print despite the best efforts of meticulous proofreaders while more often than not, the imagination wanders and leaves behind much that shouldn’t exist anywhere near the finished text, except perhaps inside the head of the text. writer…a place sometimes referred to as “wool meeting”!
In between these two extremes is quality control whose task should be similar whether applied to editing or rewriting manuscripts prior to publication
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